Daily Times

WASHINGTON: As the entire world is anxiously waiting for the results of November 8 presidential election in the United States, Pakistani diplomats have briefed the advisors of both Republican and Democratic candidates.

While Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, has first-hand knowledge of Pakistan and the issues surrounding the region, the Republican candidate Donald Trump has primarily been relaying on his advisors to chalk out the foreign policy in case he pulls that off.

The briefings took place on requests of the both campaigns, which wanted their respective candidates to be ready to deal with domestic and international issues once they enter the Oval Office.

“I had a lunch with a very important member of Ms Clinton’s team. We discussed the bilateral issues,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Jaleel Abbas Jilani told Daily Times.

Without going into specifics, he said Pakistan informed the candidates about its concerns and apprehensions towards certain US policies. The discussions focused on the areas of mutual interest, which could improve the bilateral ties between the two countries.

For obvious reasons, majority Pakistani-Americans are voting for Clinton because Trump annoyed a large section of Muslim community living in the United States with his brash statements about the religion.

The Republican candidate often sounded like someone who believed that all Muslims were terrorists. He once suggested tough immigration laws to minimise the entry of the citizens of certain Muslim countries to the United States.

Clinton, on the other hand, has reached out to the Muslim-Americans and been successfully wooing them to vote for her. Similarly, the Latino voters who constitute the largest number of diaspora are opposing Trump for his statements on strict immigration laws. “I have already voted. There is no secret to whom are we voting for. Almost all Pakistanis are supporting Hillary (Clinton),” Saeed Iqbal, a Pakistani-American living in Virginia.

The Republican candidate enjoys overwhelming support among Hindi-Americans. Perhaps, they believe that Trump would adopt tough policies on Muslims, if he wins the election.

Ambassador Jilani observed the American institutions were very old and strong and the hostile statements from the presidential candidates, during their campaigns, would not reflect on their policies after the elections.

Referring to an anti-Pakistan bill, recently moved by Congressman Ted Poe, he said the US Congress rejected the bill with a thumping majority. He said the actions and statements of a few US lawmakers should not be seen as a voice of the American administration. He said a powerful delegation of four US Senators, led by Senator John McCain, had visited Pakistan a few months ago. And once the senators returned their viewpoint about Pakistan was totally changed.

Asked to comment on current diplomatic standoff between India and Pakistan, he held the relations of the two South Asian neighbours were based on the principle of reciprocity.

Both India and Pakistan have lately identified several of each other’s spies, who were allegedly operating under the disguise of diplomats. The diplomatic offensives were taken after months of standoff at the Line of Control.

“I would have handled the situation differently,” the ambassador commented, when asked whether it was appropriate for the Foreign Office to release the names and pictures of the Indian diplomats or spies.